A Birthday to Remember
by Alex Glaven
Summary: Akiko It's Picard's birthday...what is the village of Vale to do? A Birthday present to Elena and Vil. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1. This Could Be Interesting

Happy Birthday! And many more happy birthdays to come. ^_^  
  
A Birthday to Remember  
  
Chapter 1: This Could Be Interesting  
  
Jenna stumbled into Isaac's house (where the Adepts seem to have a habit of hanging out...probably because his mom makes good food and his dad is very easy going...), a look of horror and shock on her face.  
  
Felix immediately rushed to his sister's side, shooing away the questions of the other Adepts and leading her to a chair, pressing a mug of hot cocoa into her hands and wrapping a blanket around her shoulders before asking any questions.  
  
"Are you alright?" he looked into her eyes with concern. "What happened?"  
  
She murmured something incomprehensible.  
  
"What?" Garet leaned forward.  
  
"Picard's birthday is tomorrow," she repeated, voice dead.  
  
Silence blanketed the room.  
  
Mia looked uncertain. "Are you sure? How did you find this out?"  
  
"My Djinn were talking with his Djinn..." she explained.  
  
"Well, then," Dora stood, clapping her hands. "We simply have to hold a party for him! How old is he going to be, dear?"  
  
"That's the problem, I don't know!" Jenna wailed. "I mean, the guy's probably ANCIENT, like...WAY ANCIENT!"  
  
Dora's voice became very cold. "I don't think twenty quite qualifies as 'ancient', Jenna. I'm nearly forty, and would you consider me ancient? Of course not! I'm-"  
  
"Picard's a Lemurian, Mom," Isaac explained. "He's a LOT older than you are. And I mean a LOT. We're talking centuries here."  
  
"Oh," Dora's warm and cheery manner returned instantly. The other Adepts were a little scared. "Well, then, we need to find out how old he is!"  
  
"Sheba and I could find out!" Ivan volunteered. "I mean, with his Birthday on hand he has to be thinking about his age, right?"  
  
"That's the problem with Jupiter Adepts," Garet muttered. "They can only read what you're thinking. Knowing our luck Picard won't think about his age at all."  
  
"Shut up, Garet," the two Jupiter Adepts in question glared at him. He shrugged.  
  
"What we need, are battle stations," Isaac stood up, once again assuming his mantle as leader with ease, a look of grim determination on his face. "Okay, Sheba, Ivan, you two be on duty. I need you to find out how old Picard is, what he likes, what he needs, and basically everything else."  
  
The two Jupiter Adepts nodded. "Right!"  
  
"Mia, I need you and Felix on shopping duty once we find out what he would like for gifts," Isaac turned to them. The both nodded. "Garet, Jenna, I want you two on firework duty."  
  
"Alright!" Garet cracked his knuckles.  
  
"This will be fun," Jenna lost the look of horror, replaced by a smirk.  
  
"Mom, I-OW!"  
  
Dora, who had just smacked her son, glared at him. "You don't boss ME around, young man!"  
  
"I was just going to tell you to start the preparations for the food," Isaac muttered, rubbing the back of his head.  
  
"Oh, alright," she smiled.  
  
"Dad," Isaac turned to his father, who was watching the proceedings with amusement. "I want you to set up the party. Invite anyone you want, get the Inn keeper and his wife onto helping Mom with food preparations and get some of the other villagers to start setting up the party site."   
  
"Alright..." Kyle looked a bit put out, but nodded.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Jenna asked.  
  
"I'm going to cause some distractions so Picard doesn't know what's going on," Isaac grinned.  
  
"Good luck, that guy is pretty observant," Felix pointed out.  
  
"Oh...I'll have a little help..." 


	2. Isaac's Helpers

Chapter 2: Isaac's Helpers  
  
"I wonder who Isaac is getting to help him," Sheba thought aloud.  
  
"I don't know, didn't bother to read his mind," Ivan shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, well-"  
  
"Shh! Here comes Picard!"  
  
Ivan held out one hand as the Mercury Adept came ambling up the path, and cast mind read.  
  
*Doo...doobee doo....mm....coffee....hey! I someone reading my mind? STOP READING MY MIND!*  
  
Ivan pulled out, but Picard had already found their hiding place in the bushes.  
  
"Well, if it isn't my two favorite Jupiter Adepts," he grinned at them. "What are you doing hiding in the bushes reading people's minds?"  
  
"Nothing," they answered in unison.  
  
"Oh, really," Picard's grin was becoming strained. "Don't try it again, okay?"  
  
And he walked off down the path.  
  
"Drat," Ivan muttered. "We didn't find out a single thing!"  
  
"We found out he likes coffee," Sheba supplied.  
  
"Yeah, odd, I always saw him as a cup of tea or glass of milk type person," Ivan shrugged. "Well, good point, I'll go report to headquarters, you keep tabs on our Lemurian friend."  
  
And with a slight rustle, Ivan disappeared.  
  
Sheba followed Picard stealthily, sticking to the trees beside the path when she could, always just out of sight. Picard didn't seem to have noticed her yet, but he was getting dangerously close to where the party site was.  
  
*Isaac!* she created the telepathic link with their leader. *He's getting to close.*  
  
*Alright,* Isaac replied. *Now, guys!*  
  
All seventy two Djinni appeared in little flashes of light, crowding around Picard's feet and making the little squeaking noises that they did when they were excited. Sheba was impressed. Only Isaac could convince all of the Djinni that it would be a lot of fun to join forces.  
  
Picard, of course, was forced to stop.  
  
"Hey, what do you guys all want?" he asked, staring down at them.  
  
They all began squeaking more insistent, heading in the opposite direction down the path. A few of them disappeared, then reappeared on top of his head and on his broad shoulders. Two of them (he was pretty sure it was Fever and Spring) bickered for a moment on who got the reigning place in Picard's hair, but Spring won quickly and Fever, making funny little noises, retreated to Picard's crowded shoulders.  
  
"You want me to go that way?" he asked, turning around. Several of the Djinn that had settled in his long hair began disappearing and reappearing, their excitement growing.  
  
"Alright, I guess," he shrugged and began walking in the opposite direction.  
  
Sheba sighed with relief, continuing to follow Picard.  
  
~*Meanwhile*~  
  
Ivan got to where Felix and Mia were, slightly out of breath.  
  
"Picard likes coffee," he announced.  
  
  
  
"Coffee?" one of Felix's eyebrows disappeared underneath his hair. "I saw him more as a cup of tea or glass of milk type of person."  
  
"So did I, but that's what he likes," Ivan shrugged.  
  
"Alright, Felix, I'll go to the market. You stay here in case Ivan or Sheba finds out anything else," Mia ordered. Felix nodded and left at a quick walk.  
  
"I'm heading back," Ivan nodded, and turned and ran.  
  
The site of Picard being attacked by the Djinni amused him quite a bit. 


	3. RIDICULOUS!

Chapter 3: RIDICULOUS!  
  
Ivan and Sheba had tried several times that day to find out Picard's age. All that they did find out was that he was partial to the color blue, liked his Djinni a great deal, thought about Lemuria and if it was returning to its former glory, and that he needed more socks.  
  
Isaac was kept busy at home, commanding his army of Djinni and helping his mom and the inn keeper with the cooking. They obviously thought that the birthday of a guest merited a feast, and had set about making one. He was a bit afraid that he had misjudged when appointing the Mars Adepts to firework duty. He had heard several explosions from Garet's back yard, and he wasn't sure if they were accidents, tests, or if Jenna and Garet simply enjoyed the sound.   
  
*Isaac! The Party site is almost finished!* Sheba's voice rang clear in his mind.  
  
*Do you know Picard's age yet?* he asked.  
  
*No.*  
  
*Great. Well, the cake's all made, and my mom is wondering-*  
  
"RIDICULOUS!"  
  
The yell made him jump, nearly cut of his finger with the knife he had been using on vegetables, and lose contact with Sheba.  
  
"What's ridiculous, Kraden?" Dora asked politely. She hadn't been overly fond of Kraden since she found out that technically he was responsible for her "baby boy" leaving on a quest that took him nearly two years. Isaac had given up on trying to explain that the lighthouses had NEEDED to be lit, and that Kraden had been partially responsible for the second Golden Age. She would probably never forgive him.   
  
"Rebuilding this town, first of all," Kraden pointed out. "Trying to find out Picard's age, second of all."  
  
"And why is that ridiculous?" the inn keeper's wife asked.  
  
"Because! Sol Sanctum no longer needs to be guarded! The lighting of the lighthouses is done! Finished! There's nothing left to be protected!"  
  
Everyone tuned him out on instinct, they had heard this argument several times before. When Kraden started going into elaborate theories involving complex equations on exactly why it was foolish to build a new Vale where the old Vale had been, Dora interrupted him.  
  
"We meant the second one, Kraden."  
  
"Oh, right," the scholar nodded sagely. "Picard is very old, and I, being a very old person just like him, realize that old people don't like to think about their age, they don't like to be reminded of it. It's just-"  
  
"Alright, Kraden, we get the point," Isaac glared at the scholar. "You can get out of my house now."  
  
"Isaac, that's no way to speak to the elderly," Dora chided him, but from the look on her face he could tell that she wanted him out of her house as soon as he possibly could be.  
  
"That's right, Isaac, show some respect to your elders and betters," Kraden patted his shoulder. Isaac ground his teeth, but refrained from saying anything that would cause his mom to hit him. "Though, really, I'm not that old, Dora. Not when compared to someone like Lord Conservato..."  
  
*Conservato...how I LOATHE the man,* Sheba, who was apparently still linked to Isaac and listening to the conversation through him, stated. *I say we get Picard a dart board with a picture of Conservato on it. Or, we could get him the REAL Conservato's head and he can throw darts at that.*  
  
*I never thought you were this violent, Sheba,* Ivan replied. *But, that does sound like fun. Think you could make a fun little sketch?*  
  
*Sure,* he could almost see Sheba's smirk. It rather scared him. *Now, you're going to have to make sure the old man doesn't go blabbing off to Picard what we've got planned.*  
  
"Hey, Kraden, I wanted you to explain something to me," Isaac stood up and led the older man away from the kitchen.  
  
"Oh, really, what is it?" Kraden asked.  
  
"Well, you know that one time when you explained to us how if we dropped both Garet and the Jupiter Star into the Jupiter Lighthouse that they would fall at the same rate? I don't think I quite understand that..."  
  
"Oh, it's really quite simple," Kraden was soon lost to his own explanations. Isaac nodded and made conversational noises, opening a door and leading the old man strait into a linen closet, closing it behind him and locking the door.  
  
"Isaac, that wasn't very nice," Dora glared at him when he came back into the kitchen, Kraden's muffled yells following him.  
  
His mother's lectures couldn't wipe the wide smile from his face. "I've been wanting to do that for years." 


	4. Are We Ready Yet?

Chapter 4: Are We Ready Yet?  
  
"Here are the rest of the fireworks," Garet carefully set down another crate full of explosives.  
  
Kyle was surprised at the sheer amount that Garet and Jenna had been able to conjure. "Where did you two get all of these?"  
  
"Just a little bit of subdued Mars Psynergy wrapped in paper!" Jenna looked extremely proud. "Um, sir, could you...keep the other Mars Adepts away from here? It could get a bit dangerous."  
  
Even as the words came out of her mouth, a Mars Adept wandered a little to closely. One of the boxes started smoking ominously. Jenna yelped and sat on the box, her fingers glowing red. "See what I mean?!"  
  
"Right," Kyle nodded. He turned to the rest of the group. "All Mars Adepts, clear this area!"  
  
They all gave him weird looks, but obediently moved to tasks elsewhere.  
  
Felix and Mia came up the slope, Sheba and Ivan in tow, carrying armfuls of packages.  
  
"Here are all of the gifts, where do you want them?" Mia asked Kyle.  
  
"Um...over there on that table," Kyle pointed. The four Adepts complied quickly.  
  
"Well, I have to admit," Kyle said, watching a few people Dora had recruited bring up food on big platters, the cake on a rather large one being carried by two of Vale's bulkier residents. "We really know how to throw a party."  
  
"Are we ready yet?" Isaac asked.  
  
"We will be in a few minutes," Kyle nodded. 


	5. Happy Birthday!

Chapter 5: Happy Birthday!  
  
"Hey, Picard!"  
  
Picard turned at the mention of his name. The speaker was Isaac, running up with Flint perched on his head.  
  
"Oh, hello, Isaac," Picard nodded. "The Djinni and I have been having quite the adventure today."  
  
"C'mon! There's something I got to show you!" Isaac pulled him to his feet and began running back up the path. "Hurry!"  
  
They ran through a strangely vacant Vale, up to near one of the waterfalls, the Djinni bouncing along behind them.  
  
They entered a clearing full of Psynergetic light.  
  
There was large amounts of food laid out on tables all around the clearing, different colored orbs of light settled in the trees and on the tables like faeries. The entire village was there, and they all beamed when they saw him.  
  
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY PICARD!"  
  
Picard was stunned. "H-how did..."  
  
"Spring told Core, and Core told me," Jenna explained with a grin. "C'mon, let's go eat!"  
  
After a feast, Picard began opening presents. One of them, a dart board with a detail of Conservato's head drawn on it, made him laugh.  
  
"C'mon!" he hung it onto a tree. "Who wants to play darts?"  
  
"Wait! We saved the best for last!" Jenna turned to the crates. "C'mon, Garet!"  
  
There was an explosion of color and fire, flowers and stars and even a few that looked roughly like Djinn.   
  
"This has to be the best Birthday I've ever had," Picard grinned. "Hey, where's Kraden?"  
  
~*Back in the Linen Closet*~  
  
"...Hello? Isaac? Can you let me out now?" Kraden asked, trying the doorknob for the billionth time.  
  
THE END!  
  
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'Lena and Vil!! May all of your wishes for today and tomorrow andforever come true always! 


End file.
